Sick at Heart
by sweeet-as-honey
Summary: Set after Next Year's Words. Cal has been feeling unwell all day and plans to leave the pub at a minute past midnight. When Taylor arrives, he changes his plans.
1. Chapter 1

_Yesterday, I watched Next Year's Words for the first time and spent the whole episode wanting to cuddle Cal, who looked really ill and said he had a virus. Then at the end of the episode, he was cuddled up to Taylor and (once I'd got past all the jealousy), I started thinking that maybe giving a girl your germs wasn't the best new year present in the world._

 _I hope it's not too disgusting._

* * *

Cal had always known Taylor was a sight for sore eyes, but he hadn't realised she was a sight for sore stomachs as well.

He'd been feeling absolutely terrible all day and he was fairly sure that the only reason he'd managed to avoid throwing up was because he'd forged Ethan's signature in order to prescribe himself metoclopramide. Luckily, the pharmacist had had no idea that Ethan had gone away for the new year. Either that or she hadn't been able to resist Cal's charm.

And now, here he was, celebrating the new year with Taylor, the stomach ache and nausea had that plagued him no more than a distant memory.

When she kissed him, everything else became a distant memory as well. The pub. The fact he was surrounded by colleagues. Even the fact that he'd left Taylor an embarrassing voicemail that made Ethan look socially competent.

She'd said that was hot anyway. Cal was fairly sure she was just being polite, but the important thing was that she was here and showing no signs of being scared off by his uncharacteristic ineptitude.

Cal kissed along her jawline and up towards her ear. "How about we get out of here?"

"You must have read my mind," said Taylor, smiling. Then she added: "Don't get used to it."

Cal laughed and stood up, holding out his hand to Taylor. He knew he was smiling uncontrollably and he knew everyone in the pub could see it, but he was leaving with the most attractive woman in the pub, if not the world. If anyone had a reason to smile, it was Cal, and if his soppy smile did do some damage to his street cred, the fact he was with Taylor would cause it to shoot up again.

As they'd both been drinking, Cal called a taxi and asked Taylor if she wanted to go back inside to wait, but she shook her head. Her long, blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders and her face was lit with a warm, radiant smile. Cal had never seen anything so beautiful. He felt dizzy as he turned towards her and his stomach filled with butterflies, which surprised him, but he'd never met a girl like Taylor before. She wasn't just stunningly, amazingly beautiful. She was extremely intelligent and had a loving heart.

Whether there was space in her heart for Cal alongside the charity she devoted her life to remained to be seen, but as Taylor put her arms around his neck and softly placed her lips on his, he began to believe it was possible.

The churning in his stomach redoubled, but Cal ignored it as a perfectly natural reaction to being kissed by a beautiful girl. It wasn't until he felt the pressure in the back of his throat that he realised what was going to happen. He shoved Taylor away from him with more haste than care and vomited noisily into the gutter.

The attack was so violent, it forced Cal to his knees and it seemed like some time had passed before the retching and spluttering finally stopped. He stayed where he was, feeling too weak and too ill to stand, his eyes closed so he didn't have to look at what he'd done.

"Well. I've met a lot of guys, but I've never had that reaction before," said Taylor.

Cal groaned and put his head in his hands. Impossible as it seemed, he'd actually forgotten Taylor was there. He didn't think he'd ever been so embarrassed, but he forced himself to stand up and look her in the eye. "I'm sorry, Taylor."

Taylor ignored his apology and held out a tissue. "Wipe your mouth."

Cal did as he was told.

"That's better," said Taylor.

Discomfited, he offered the tissue back to Taylor, but she shook her head firmly.

"It's fine," she said, part-flirtatious, part-sarcastic. "You can keep it forever if you like."

"Right. Yes. Sorry," said Cal as he realised she wouldn't have wanted it back. He cleared his throat and tried to engage his brain. "Don't worry. It wasn't anything to do with you. I've been feeling rough all day. Some kind of virus."

If he was expecting sympathy, he was disappointed. Taylor took a step away from him. "You have a virus and you wanted me to go home with you? Is that your idea of a late Christmas present? To infect me? And you call yourself a doctor?"

Cal squirmed a bit as he realised she had a point. "Haven't you had loads of injections, though? For visiting Mexico and places like that?"

"Bolivia," said Taylor in a tight voice. "I was in Bolivia. And inoculations don't protect me against everything. Not viruses, nor silly little boys who should be in bed."

"Well, bed _was_ where we were heading…" Cal said with a cute smile.

It didn't work on Taylor. She didn't say anything else until a taxi drew up alongside them. "This must be ours. You take it, Cal. Go to bed and get well soon and then _maybe_ you'll find I'm still interested."

"Oh, I couldn't leave you to stand out here on your own," said Cal gallantly. "You have this taxi. I'll phone for another one."

"It's yours," said Taylor with finality. "I need another drink."

Cal offered a fiver. "Have one on me?"

Taylor shook her head. "I couldn't possibly take your money."

Cal returned the fiver to his pocket. "I'll call you… I'll leave you a voicemail…"

"Perhaps you should wait for me to call you," said Taylor, and walked away, sparing him the briefest glance over her shoulder. "Goodbye, Cal."

"Bye, Taylor." Cal gave a long, sad sigh and got in the taxi.

On the journey home, Cal closed his eyes and made two new year wishes. The first was that he hadn't completely blown his chances with Taylor. The second was that he could make it home without throwing up again.


	2. Chapter 2

_This was supposed to be a one-shot, but I had an idea for a second part. I've already replied to all the reviews, but thank you again to_ **Tanith Panic** _,_ **Tato Potato** _and_ **AVMabs** _for reading and reviewig._

* * *

Three days later, Cal was still feeling terrible.

He'd recovered from his stomach virus and it had been an unusually good day at work. He hadn't been spattered with bodily functions of any description; he'd calmed a distressed teenager with a personality disorder so successfully, Connie had actually said well done; and he'd even managed to make a diagnosis from symptoms that had left Ethan completely flummoxed (his word, not Cal's).

But it was impossible to be happy when he might never see Taylor again.

He had tried to contact her. He'd lost count of the number of voicemails he'd left her. But she hadn't responded and Cal really couldn't blame her. One of the first rules of first aid was protection from infection, yet he'd invited Taylor to have a nice threesome with him and a stomach virus.

And then he'd nearly been sick on her.

Cal liked to think he was pretty much irresistible, but he knew it was very unlikely Taylor would want to see him after that.

When his shift ended, Max and Lofty asked if he was going to the pub, but Cal shook his head and said his stomach wasn't ready for alcohol yet. Lofty looked concerned and Max confused, but eventually they went off without him.

Ethan was working a double shift today so Cal had the flat to himself. There were various numbers in his phone he could call if he wanted some company, but only one girl interested him now. The girl who was never going to contact him again in a million years.

When someone knocked on the door, Cal's heart leapt then plummeted. Of course it wouldn't be Taylor. He would bet Ethan's whole inheritance on that.

But as he had nothing better to do than answer the door, he hauled himself to his feet and went to see who it was.

There was no-one there. But as Cal peered out into the corridor, he saw very long, blonde hair. Long legs. Hips that swung from side to side as she walked. "Taylor?"

She turned around. "Cal!" Her face lit up and she actually almost ran to meet him. "How are you? Are you better now?"

"I… um…." Cal could barely remember when she was looking at him like that. "Would you like to come in?"

"Thanks." Taylor gave him a heartstopping smile. "I really would love to." She smiled some more. "But you do need to get out of my way first."

"Oh! Oh yes. Sorry." Cal laughed nervously. "Um… come in." He stood aside and gestured vaguely into the flat. Taylor went inside and sat on the sofa. Cal hesitated and sat beside her. They both started to speak at once.

"Sorry," they both said.

"After you," said Cal.

Taylor looked down at her feet. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry, Cal," she said with a catch in her voice, "I'm so sorry for the way I treated you when you were ill."

Cal reached for her hand. "Hey, you haven't got anything to apologise for! I'm the one who was sick. Just forget about it, okay? That's what I'm trying to do."

"But I was so unkind to you," said Taylor, her voice wobbling. "You were so ill and I didn't even make sure you got home safely."

"You weren't unkind at all," said Cal. "I'd just nearly thrown up on you. You had every right to be annoyed with me."

Taylor's hair was over her face, but Cal still saw as she got a tissue out of her handbag and lifted it to her eyes. "No, I hadn't! I have no idea why I got so angry. It's not like it's never happened before. When I'm working with my charity, visiting different countries and helping the sick and injured, my patients often throw up on me. I don't know why it was different with you."

Cal put his arm around her. "That's because you weren't working, Taylor. When it happens at work, it's just part of the day and you just follow the normal procedure. But when it happens outside work, you're in a different role and you don't react in the same way." He leaned closer to her and lightly kissed the side of her head. "Besides, I don't suppose any of the children you help had their tongues down your throat seconds before."

Taylor gave a shaky laugh and shook her head.

"That's better," said Cal. "You should never apologise for having a completely normal reaction to something. It's me who should be apologising. I should never have kissed you or tried to spend time with you when I was ill. It was really thoughtless and selfish of me. And I'm sorry about all the voicemails too. Especially the one where I forgot to disconnect the call properly before I threw up."

Taylor laughed again. "Don't worry. I did get a lot of voicemails from you, but I didn't hear anything like that."

"I'm still sorry," said Cal softly.

Taylor turned slowly to face him, shaking her hair away from her face. Her eye make-up looked as immaculate as ever, but as she dabbed her tissue against the corners of her eyes, he could see it was stained with black. "Cal, I can't forgive you because there's nothing at all to forgive. You wanted to spend time with me even though you were feeling ill and that makes me the luckiest girl in the world." Her voice was passionate. "You weren't thoughtless: you were thinking of _me_. You left all those voicemails because you cared. And the only reason I didn't phone you or come to see you before now was because I was embarrassed and ashamed about the way I'd behaved. You really have done nothing wrong at all and you have shown what an amazing guy you are by even letting me into your flat."

Cal could only stare at her. Her eyes were dry now, but they were full of sincerity. Her voice was rich and warm. He felt rather emotional. Taylor, the most incredible woman he had ever met, cared about him. She'd cried because she thought she'd hurt him.

She cared so much, she was prepared to overlook what he'd done. And now she was pretending it was nothing; that she had no need to forgive him at all.

"Really," said Taylor as she reached out and caressed his cheek, "there really is nothing for me to forgive. I know I was upset at the time, but I was being very silly and very unkind." Her voice wobbled again. "I am sorry, Cal."

"You didn't do anything wrong," said Cal as he stroked her hair back from her face. "It's okay, beautiful. Don't cry anymore. How about we just forget it ever happened?"

Taylor threw her arms around him. "Oh yes, Cal. Let's forget everything!" She kissed him. "Let's just be together."

"We can we make new memories," Cal whispered against her lips. "Happy memories."

"Oh yes. Right on the money," murmured Taylor.


End file.
